Mountains of gems and coins and weapons forged in precious metal competed with gems of every shape and size imaginable. Fabric that looked like spun waterfalls was piled two-men tall and twice as deep. Statues and artifacts foreign even to Lucan lined the walls.
“Sweet Avalon,” Briana murmured. She staggered to her feet next to him, and they took a step deeper into the room.
More gems were pressed right into the ceiling and walls.
“Like a needle in a haystack, huh?” Briana stepped into the corridor long enough to grab the torch she’d set aside.
“This isn’t a game.”
She surveyed the mountains of treasure and glanced back at him. “And here I thought we were playing for bragging rights.” He scowled, and she rolled her eyes. “I was joking. Maybe you should spend more time looking for the gems and less pretending like we’re working as some kind of team. We’re competitors now, right?”
The sound of gravel crunching underfoot had them both spinning around. He grabbed Briana and tugged her against the wall, out of immediate sight of the opening. She froze next to him, her gaze locked on the wall. She reached for something, her hand blocking the view. She gripped whatever it was and tugged, her elbow jerking back and knocking into a stand loaded down with ropes of gold and coins two inches thick.
Voices carried down the corridor at the same time the stand that rocked precariously tilted to the side. His hand shot out to steady it, but the jewel encrusted chalice on top was already falling.
He and Briana reached to catch the cup at the same time, and when his fingers grazed the chalice, pain punched through his head, and everything went dark.
“We were told it was time to retire.”
Briana peeked through the opening in her tent. She scowled over her shoulder at her best friend, Sheara, then resumed her watch. In the distance a burst of flame lit up the summer night sky, and voices cheered.
“If you disobey your parents…” Sheara warned.
“Then I’ll be no different than my brothers.” Her brothers who were out there enjoying the festival despite the lateness of the hour.
“Your father—”
“Won’t know.” Briana turned from the door, frowning at the clothes Sheara had discarded in favor of preparing for bed. “You’re truly not coming?”
“And have my own parents refuse to let me accompany you again?”
“We’re no longer children,” Briana argued, but recognized the stubborn light in her friend’s eye. It didn’t matter that Briana was only months from settling into her immortality. Until then, she was expected to respect her parents’ wishes.
Maybe if she was more like Sheara, Briana would be content to go to bed. Knowing her brothers had carried on far later than this when they’d been shy of freezing into their own immortal skin didn’t help. Even now the three were among the hundreds who’d gathered for the celebration. King Arthur’s presence had drawn an even bigger crowd than usual.
“Don’t be too long. Your mother may very well check on us.” Sheara advised, knowing Briana hadn’t stopped to consider the possibility.
Grinning, she crossed the tent to the coverings on the ground that would serve as a bed. She arranged two spare gowns under the covers, as though she’d chosen to sleep in her animal form.
Despite her refusal to come, Sheara laughed and tucked herself in. “Be careful. There are many unfamiliar faces among the King’s men.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to insist no one would harm her for fear of facing her brothers, but knew better. The recent battles as Arthur’s half-sister, Morgana, waged war, with her son at the helm of their armies, had proven there were many in Avalon who couldn’t be trusted.
“Sleep well and I will tell you of my adventures in the morning.” Grinning, Briana slipped from the tent, watching for her brothers should they have left the celebrations in favor of returning to their family’s tents.
It was so unlikely, she nearly laughed out loud at the mere thought.
Hearing voices nearby, Briana ducked around the side of the tent, then another and nearly ran smack into her own parents. Both stood with their backs to her, their laughter rising over the music from a group of musicians close by.
With the sound of her wild heart drowned out by the flutes and drums, she retraced her steps, skirting the edge of the sprawling encampment, watching everyone from a careful distance until she was well away from her family.
She shouldn’t have to skulk around the shadows while her brothers cavorted with friends and warriors alike. Had she been born a male, she would have been able to join the Guard already. She hadn’t yet forgiven Cian for leaving her behind when he’d spent years insisting a life of service was not for him. Meeting Arthur had changed everything for him—for all her brothers—and while they fought for Camelot and Avalon, she was expected to pursue more feminine pastimes.
She kicked at a branch lying across the flattened grass beneath her feet. She paused beneath a twisting tree at the edge of the clearing, watching her clansmen laughing and drinking. Lots of drinking. Music followed her as she rounded the next gathering of tents. Voices mingled and carried, stories of recent skirmishes with Morgana and Mordred’s army competing with epic tales about the first Campaign.
She lingered near a group of men, listening to the tales of a dragon gargoyle so fierce he’d nearly destroyed an entire legion of Mordred’s men. All too quickly the talk turned to other victories, ones that included bedding women.
Having spent so much time with her brothers—both to their and their mother’s annoyance—she wasn’t nearly as innocent as Sheara when it came to men and women. Still, her ears were burning by the time she heard a familiar voice rise above the others in the gathered men.
Her oldest brother, Cale, said something she didn’t catch, but judging by the raunchy laughter that followed, it was just as well. By the time she retreated deeper into the cover of trees, her animal half hungered to run nearly as much the woman hungered to live as she wished and not as expected.
The darkness didn’t affect her vision as she wandered along familiar trails. Earlier that afternoon she’d found not one, but all three of her brothers when they’d questioned her tracking skills. For the third year in a row, she’d tracked each of them easily, enjoying their exasperation a little too much.
Smiling over the memory of that, she edged down a mossy embankment leading to the edge of the lake. Though night had fallen hours before she’d been sent to bed, the warmth of the day lingered.
Lifting her hair off the back of her neck, she picked her way down the steepest part of the hill.
She froze, and scanned the surface of the lake. Nothing moved and no scent of nearby animals or gargoyles carried on the breeze.
A fish then?
Unconcerned, she sat beneath the branches of a tree that reached over the lake’s glassy surface. She unlaced her boots, letting her feet touch the dewy grass.
Another splash sounded a moment before her gaze found the dark head that surfaced in the middle of the lake. Too far for her to make out the face, Briana remained still, waiting.
Broad strokes carried him closer, and the man’s feet finally found the bottom of the lake. He stood, his body caught in the moonlight. Scars that might have been hidden in shadow were easy to make out, along with the muscles that defined a warrior’s body.
He glanced up the hill, seemingly unaware of her, and she recognized the face of the boy who’d teased her nearly as much as her own brothers had.
Lucan.
At least four summers had passed since they’d last seen each other, and in moments it became painfully clear that Lucan was far from the childhood boy she remembered.
He waded toward shore, and Briana immediately lowered her gaze, her face heating as he emerged from the water and strode to where his clothes lay in a pile on the narrow, rocky shoreline.
She lifted her head enough to peek through her lowered lashes. She should let him know she was there, but
